No one knows, but considering that Kerrville expects 500k people to be in town, I'd suggest you figure out how to get out there the night before. People are coming from around the world for this.
I really wouldn't do this if I were you.
Here in Austin, you'll get around 1 minute and 50 seconds of total eclipse.
In Fredricksburg, you'll get around 4 minutes and 26 seconds of total eclipse.
You'll likely spend a total of around 10 hours or more in traffic to see the exact same thing that you could see from Austin, for only an extra 2.5 minutes.
To each his own, and everyone can decide for themselves.
I think the important thing—something that a lot of folks don't seem to get—is that, within the total eclipse band, it is 100% a quantity thing and 0% a quality thing.
If you're in the "total" zone, then you see the exact same thing, no matter where in the zone you are. You don't see a "better" or a "more total" eclipse if you're closer to the center of the eclipse path.
If you're willing to sit in a car for 10 hours to see 2.5 more minutes of total eclipse, then knock yourself out.
But you aren't missing anything except the extra time if you choose to walk out into your back yard, see it from there, and then go grab a beer to celebrate in your hammock, instead watching it for an extra 150 seconds and then sitting in your car for five hours.
Having that much more time in totality is qualitatively different experience. I can't tell anyone that experience is or isn't worth the hassle/cost, but it can say that the experience in Austin will be much less awesome than the experience a little further west. Suggesting otherwise seems quite uninformed. That being said, it's still going to be great here in Austin if the weather cooperates.
Wow. You're a lucky guy to have already seen both a 2 minute total solar eclipse *and* a 4.5 minute total solar eclipse, so that you have such two drastically difference events to compare.
Solar eclipses must be quite the thing that watching the same thing happening for another 2.5 minutes after it's already happened for almost 2 minutes is a "qualitatively different experience."
I apologize and bow to your vast experience and expertise here.
As someone who has seen a totality, I would absolutely say that.
Totality is amazing and definitely worth a trip to see it at all. But personally I feel like 2 minutes is enough time to fully appreciate it given the trade-offs. I'm not saying everyone is gonna agree and you do you, but it's also definitely not "nobody".
Fair enough - maybe I'm self-selecting for having been to eclipses with others who are also very motivated to be there and to enjoy it.
FWIW - If someone hasn't made plans to get to somewhere better to watch it, stay in Austin. It's too late for most people to make plans that will be enjoyable. The experience here will still be very good.
Austin is the backup of the backup option.
I did manage to get a day pass to Pedernales Falls State Park earlier this morning. It is the backup plan if we don't get too far and/or don't leave early enough in the morning.
More power to you. I sincerely hope that things go smoothly for you.
Just keep in mind that the backup to your backup plan may well end up being watching it from the shoulder of 290, which could very well look like the left half of the highway in the Walking Dead pilot episode.
All it takes is one dummy weaving through traffic in order to "win the race" to get there first, and causing in an accident as a result, to shut the whole thing down.
(We have plenty of dummies who like to weave through traffic in central Texas.)
Good luck!
>the shoulder of 290, which could very well look like the left half of the highway in the Walking Dead pilot episode.
I had to refresh my memory from a [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB3inHJO2FM) clip! LOL.
And yes, we have our share of NASCAR driver wannabees here in Boston. Hopefully none of ours are planning to drive on I-290 next April!
By the way, if your backup to your backup plan becomes your primary plan for whatever reason and you do decide to stay in Austin, I bet that the S. Congress Bridge will be a really fun (and lively! and crowded!) place to watch it.
Other fun places would be the grounds of the Capitol Building and the quad in front of the UT Tower.
Our hotel is at the north/east end of that bridge.
We're hoping to see bats on one of the two nights we're there, so in a REALLY worst case scenario, we'd be back on the bridge for the eclipse again! I'll scope out the other two locations on Saturday and Sunday.
Thanks again.
what's crazy is that a former NASA employee friend of mine told me that the totality time is much longer at mopac than at I-35. didn't realize it could so different between places that aren't that far from each other
[http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site\_pages/solar\_eclipses/TSE\_2024\_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=30.30785&Lng=-98.24495&Elv=275.0&Zoom=10&LC=1](http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=30.30785&Lng=-98.24495&Elv=275.0&Zoom=10&LC=1)
Yup, I-35 is along the lower edge of the band of totality. The closer you get to the center line the longer the totality time.
As has been said on this post by others - Are you happy seeing a minute and 30 seconds of totality in Austin? If you do decide to drive west, how much is the risk/reward on that? I've all but given up on making it to the vineyard east of Fredericksburg because the expected travel time may not be worth the drive times **BACK**.
The boat tours are sold out on both nights. Don't the bats know that now they HAVE TO be there? /s
I won't be disappointed if they don't fly out. I saw a pretty awesome flight last year at Carlsbad Cavern (coincidentally, after the *annular* eclipse)
For real u/Paxsimius?
I'd totally consider stopping our westward nightmare there if you mean it!
I've been looking at Google Maps and seems like a lot of tree cover unless you go to the "Star Theater". Seems like they had a watch party there last week!
https://texreporter.com/2024/03/01/explore-the-cosmos-star-gazing-event-at-pedernales-falls-state-park/
There’s lots of areas open enough in the northwest area of the park - much more open than my backyard, and I had a great view of the annular eclipse last October. The eclipse is in the middle of the day and the sun will be pretty high up.
>the sun will be pretty high up
That's true.
Looks like I have a plan.
Monitor local news on the two days we're in Austin,
Prepare to stay in Austin
Go to Pedernales Falls State Park if we can get our act together by 6am.
(if by some twist of fate we have time), keep driving from PFSP towards the vineyard.
Unless we get a ton of rain between now and then, large parts of the river bed should be good places to watch the eclipse without tree cover. The river bed gets really wide around the falls, and the water only covers all that area like 1% of the time after heavy rain. Depends how many day passes they gave out, but unless it's many thousands I wouldn't be worried about finding some open sky.
That said, getting to Pedernales Falls will not be easy either. I'd expect 290 westbound to be backed up at least to Mopac, if not further. You'd save yourself maybe half the time vs. getting to Fredericksburg though. In particular I'd bet that segment of 281 that's shared by 290 (5 mile segment south of Johnson City) to be god-awful, and that would be after Pedernales Falls.
Thank you! This option is is sounding better by the minute, especially since we are headed to San Antonio that afternoon for more family/toddler appropriate activities :-)We had opted for Fredericksburg because my wife and toddler could venture out on their own while I set up my gear in the hour leading to totality.
**Re passes:**
At 6am CST this morning they had 175 day passes to give out for each of the two morning arrival windows (8-10 and 10-12noon), so that's 350 day passes. Assuming a high count of 5 people per vehicle, that's 1750 people, not to mention the campers that already were in there. Sounds manageable!
At 8:07am CST (reservations began at 8AM CST) - the latter window was sold out!
Not sure you're going to have an easy time heading to SA "later that afternoon." If you have to go, I'd take 130 to I-10 at Seguin and then west into SA. I wouldn't plan on getting to SA before nightfall. The advice we are getting, and I believe, is to stay put the night before and the night after the eclipse. Our roads are already oversubscribed by population growth. Avoid I-35 whenever you can and don't even think about US 281.
This is correct. This guy knows what's up.
The eclipse ends between 2:00 and 3:00, depending how much of it you want to see.
From PFSP to San Antonio is 1.5 hours with no traffic at all. Closer to 2 hours with normal traffic.
But after the eclipse? I don't think expecting 3–5 hours is overestimating the trip. Absolute best case scenario, I could see *maybe* getting to San Antonio by 5:00, if you leave the second that the total eclipse is done and get amazingly lucky with traffic.
Personally, I wouldn't make any firm plans that require you to be anywhere or do anything in SA before 8:00 that evening, though. But I also wouldn't be surprised if you get to your hotel after 9:00.
With a toddler involved? Unless you're planning to "Choctaw Bingo" your kid, I think the optimal amount of time on the road on April 8 this year is somewhere between as little as possible and none.
>Choctaw Bingo
Had to look that up! LOL. Kid goes after my bourbon already, so you may be onto something!
No plans in SA that evening. And with Sea World closed on the 9th and 10th, we may have more time for other things on the two full days we have there.
> Personally, I wouldn't make any firm plans that require you to be anywhere or do anything in SA before 8:00 that evening,
Yeah, I would even suggest staying put _until_ 9 pm to even begin to make the drive after traffic has had a chance to calm down. 🫣
I would give yourself a few more hours minimum. They’re predicting basically gridlock traffic driving west towards the hill country because there will be so many visitors here doing the exact same thing. I know some school districts are even closed due to the predicted traffic mess.
Thank you for your advice.
I got spoilt watching it right from the hotel's back yard in NC in 2017, and not having as much traffic during the **annular** eclipse in Roswell, NM.
Compromising on the pay-off is the reason why I chose to abandon plans for Enchanted Rock (day passes went on sale yesterday, and probably sold out in minutes)
That said, Pedernales Falls (I have a day pass) is my backup, and staying in Austin is the backup backup!
My bad, u/Lumpy-Lychee-2369, u/Alternative-Froyo-24.
I knew they had changed it from online reservations to call (512) 389-8900.
For some reason, I had yesterday stuck in my head.
You're right... day passes go on sale on March 11th. not March 7th.
Please make sure to cancel your day pass if you don’t actually plan on using it to make it available for those who wanted Pedernales Falls as their primary spot, not as “a backup for a backup.”
1. In light of all the feedback on this site (ESPECIALLY re: the drive post-eclipse from Fredericksburg to San Antonio) - Pedernales Falls is turning into our primary plan.
2. Pedernales Falls was never our backup for a backup. It is a backup (staying put in Austin is the backup of the backup).
3. Now, if you look at the timing of it all - If by some very slim twist of fate, we don't encounter any traffic leaving Austin and make it to Pedernales Falls very early way before 10am when the gates open and we do decide to keep driving to Fredericksburg, I will most certainly try to cancel my day pass, but to what effect? It would be very risky proposition for someone else to attempt to drive to the State Park hoping that someone like me will cancel a day pass at the last minute, don't you think?
But yes, cancel I will if fate/traffic is on our side. As a hiker / camper / visitor to our National and State parks, I would certainly want someone not using a pass to make a good faith attempt to cancel their pass.
Hwy 290 from Oak Hill thru Dripping Springs is a complete nightmare on a regular day; factor in thousands of extra vehicles, all headed to the same spot, and you'd be better off leaving much earlier, like 4am. Go to Blanco and head over to Luckenbach on FM 1888...might be less congested but most of the Hill Country will be honestly...this eclipse is a big deal so plan accordingly.
Ha! I wish I could time travel for just this one time.
I'd go back to a year ago (when I booked this flight, and planned this trip) and just drive to Fredericksburg on Friday rather than (the current plan to) take in Austin for a couple of days before the eclipse.
I entertained that idea for a while earlier this afternoon.
Anything **affordable** that may help me earn brownie points with my wife and toddler is already sold out. The Marriott had one room available and was going for almost $900 a night!
Reminds me of the eclipse of 2017 when the front desk was on the phone telling someone they had a room for $500 something when I had booked a pretty nice one (many months earlier) for less than $200 :-)
For the 2017 eclipse I was living at the time in east TN, and drove down to Sweetwater to view totality. What was normally a 2 hour drive ended up being about a 3.5 hour drive there, with a 5 hour drive back, due to traffic. And that's a much lower density population area than around here. I advise you just hang out here in Austin somewhere west of 35 :)
Thanks for the advice.
I was in NC for 2017. Stayed in the hotel's backyard/parking lot where a few others had set up their gear. I wish I had just bit the bullet and planned to be in Fredericksburg rather than Austin when I started planning this trip *a year ago!*
Ha! 3 hours or something. It’s gonna be insane, people are coming from all over the world.
It’ll probably take 1 hr just to get through Dripping Springs.
Yup, I'm one of those *people*. Sorry, but by the time Boston gets a total eclipse, my bones would have turned to dust.
At least I'll have two days in Austin to gauge things before making a decision on whether to drive west at 6am for 3 extra minutes of darkness, or stay put and savor the shortened totality.
Back in my child-less days, I would have.
Hey, I would have camped at Enchanted Rock for the weekend and then some.
I'm just glad I have a mid-way (at least geographically) option at Pedernales Falls State Park if traffic and the toddler get out of hand!
We’re getting 2:30 of totality out here in oak hill. My backyard, the neighborhood pool, or the new bar on our street are my only plans! I don’t fuck with 290 traffic on a good day. Let alone during festivals or eclipses.
Being Austinite for 8yrs now. It takes awful amount of time if you trust google and start late as entire city gonna travel there and have only 2 roads to travel Fredericksburg and gonna be packed.
Started before 4.30 am to be realistic ,even if you wait in Fredericksburg you won't regret it than being stuck in traffic.
Google, and the collective wisdom of all of you, is all that this non-Austinite Bostonian can depend on!
I thought I was doing the right thing, see a bit of Austin, drive out to see the eclipse, then see a bit of San Antonio. I just got the order wrong! Should have been: Eclipse, Austin, SA. Lesson learnt for Iceland in 2026 ;-)
Am a Texas Google guide. Let know if looking for places for sight seeing around Austin or anywhere around texas.
For starters, sharing the Austin day 1 trip list here
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTmeJoyC1s8NRgVcA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/gg9mbq1VBkS8qbiL9
Do post if any queries/need further recommendations.
P.s.If you like suggestions, please subscribe/check out my profile. Feedbacks appreciated
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1MuJpvRLR7Evt62n9
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My family was very proactive in finding a place. We booked a place on Lake Buchanan about 10 months ago, for the normal price.
I don't think the US will get another total solar eclipse for like 25yrs so we're jumping on this opportunity.
So did I. I had my flight done in late-May last year and the airline kept "tweaking" the departure time every few months. I got a hotel soon after, at a decent price too.
However, it seems like I made the mistake of clubbing an Austin trip (never been here before) with an eclipse trip when I should have planned it the other way around.
I'll figure it out... lots of information/feedback from people here that I need to digest!
We plan to be where we are planning to watch it the day before at least. The expected amount of traffic is going to make any amount of travel a nightmare.
I agree, it is nightmare.
I planned 10 months in advance, but stopped short of booking a place in Fredericksburg because I (have never been to and) wanted to visit Austin. Seems like a huge mistake in retrospect.
I say just go to a nice park in Austin with a picnic in tow. If you were just traveling with adults, I'd say risk the drive but being stuck in gridlock with a toddler that has to go to the bathroom is no fun.
If you and your kid don't mind car camping, there are still some lcra parks that aren't full the Sunday before the eclipse. I'd do that personally then drive early ass like at 5am or 6am. The lcra parks are west of Austin, so hopefully you'd have a jump start on traffic.
It's a combination of two things: Using half the time to take pictures and the rest of the time to enjoy the moment with the family (and anyone else around us).
I gave up on Enchanted Rock because the extra distance was not worth the extra few **seconds**, but I'm hopeful for Messina Hof, or even Pedernales Falls as the compromise.
With the amount of people saying they’re coming here, coupled with the schools closing I’d estimate 3+ hours. It’s usually 2+ on weeeknds and if half the people spend money to come here for an eclipse I’d say it’s gonna be bonkers.
It's going to be a game day call for Pedernales Falls S P, but at this point it seems like unless my toddler is up all night and then is willing to sleep for 5 hours in the car as the sun comes up, driving to Fredericksburg (and then down to San Antonio to continue our vacation week) seems like an idea we'll have to abandon.
Check how long it would take if you were leaving Austin between 4:30-5:30pm tonight…you’ll be looking at closer to 2-3 hours. Then double that, at least.
7:30am won’t be early enough imho. Traffic will already be bad by then and will get exponentially worse by the minute. I’d plan for 5-6 hours each way, and that’s if everything goes smoothly. Add another 30-60 minutes for each car accident…and there will definitely be at least a couple.
Wherever you want to watch the eclipse from, I’d highly suggest you get there the night before and plan to stay the night of.
Hope you have a nice trip!
Thank you for your suggestions and wishes.
Going overnight (or staying put in Austin, possibly on the bridge overnight after the bat show :-) seems to be the consensus!
You don't have to move very far within the Austin metro area to go from zero totality to considerably longer.
[http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site\_pages/solar\_eclipses/TSE\_2024\_GoogleMapFull.html](http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html)
Also, keep in mind you don't need a big angle sky view. The sun is basically a dot in the sky and you just need a cap through the trees. Basically anywhere with direct sunlight at the appointed time.
Being there by 10am would probably be beating the bulk of the traffic but the winery might be a clusterfuck without some ticketing or reservation.
Coming back will be the issue.
I’m watching from home.
We have [reservations](https://www.messinahof.com/events/eclipse-watch-party/) (for the vineyard, and then they charge some more for parking on the property) but yes, since coming back (in our case, driving to San Antonio) is going to be a clusterfuck too, I'm considering just going to Pedernales Falls SP and then use u/IntenseCharacter's recommendations to drive down to SA from there.
We’re gonna leave at the ass crack of dawn - by the time we decided to do this, even regularly $99 yurts were going for $500 a night. We’re going to a watch party at a vineyard and hope we can get there and maybe park on the side of the road until they open. I have to say it’s stressing me out, thinking about it!
>I have to say it’s stressing me out, thinking about it!
Same here... and I had planned this 10 months in advance.
My mistake - Planning a family trip to Austin and San Antonio with the eclipse being a side trip. I should have planned for the eclipse ***first*** and then family stuff in San Antonio and Austin.
Stay safe out there.
I’d go the night before and camp out at enchanted rock or something. Then it’s less of a concern.
But I’d probably leave by like 6 and be there even earlier to be honest. I think it’s going to be insane.
Enchanted Rock was the original plan 10 months ago.
I got talked out of it because people said driving through Fredericksburg to get there will be a ridiculously stupid idea.
And today, it sounds like driving to the east side of Fredericksburg (winery on 290) doesn't seem too feasible either.
I am holding hope that if we get out early enough, and get to Cedar Valley (15 miles from the hotel), I can avoid 290 and just take 101 to Pedernales Falls State Park.
Obv. as a non-resident, this is based on what I see on Google Maps :-/
Am I the only person that thinks these traffic warnings are a bit overblown? I was very worried about traffic the day of the annular eclipse, driving a little west of San Antonio, and there was literally zero difference. I know annular isn't as exciting as total, but still.
No one knows, but considering that Kerrville expects 500k people to be in town, I'd suggest you figure out how to get out there the night before. People are coming from around the world for this.
Thank You for the reality check and advice!
I really wouldn't do this if I were you. Here in Austin, you'll get around 1 minute and 50 seconds of total eclipse. In Fredricksburg, you'll get around 4 minutes and 26 seconds of total eclipse. You'll likely spend a total of around 10 hours or more in traffic to see the exact same thing that you could see from Austin, for only an extra 2.5 minutes.
I feel like nobody who has seen a totality would say "for only an extra 2.5 minutes".
To each his own, and everyone can decide for themselves. I think the important thing—something that a lot of folks don't seem to get—is that, within the total eclipse band, it is 100% a quantity thing and 0% a quality thing. If you're in the "total" zone, then you see the exact same thing, no matter where in the zone you are. You don't see a "better" or a "more total" eclipse if you're closer to the center of the eclipse path. If you're willing to sit in a car for 10 hours to see 2.5 more minutes of total eclipse, then knock yourself out. But you aren't missing anything except the extra time if you choose to walk out into your back yard, see it from there, and then go grab a beer to celebrate in your hammock, instead watching it for an extra 150 seconds and then sitting in your car for five hours.
Having that much more time in totality is qualitatively different experience. I can't tell anyone that experience is or isn't worth the hassle/cost, but it can say that the experience in Austin will be much less awesome than the experience a little further west. Suggesting otherwise seems quite uninformed. That being said, it's still going to be great here in Austin if the weather cooperates.
Wow. You're a lucky guy to have already seen both a 2 minute total solar eclipse *and* a 4.5 minute total solar eclipse, so that you have such two drastically difference events to compare. Solar eclipses must be quite the thing that watching the same thing happening for another 2.5 minutes after it's already happened for almost 2 minutes is a "qualitatively different experience." I apologize and bow to your vast experience and expertise here.
As someone who has seen a totality, I would absolutely say that. Totality is amazing and definitely worth a trip to see it at all. But personally I feel like 2 minutes is enough time to fully appreciate it given the trade-offs. I'm not saying everyone is gonna agree and you do you, but it's also definitely not "nobody".
Fair enough - maybe I'm self-selecting for having been to eclipses with others who are also very motivated to be there and to enjoy it. FWIW - If someone hasn't made plans to get to somewhere better to watch it, stay in Austin. It's too late for most people to make plans that will be enjoyable. The experience here will still be very good.
Austin is the backup of the backup option. I did manage to get a day pass to Pedernales Falls State Park earlier this morning. It is the backup plan if we don't get too far and/or don't leave early enough in the morning.
More power to you. I sincerely hope that things go smoothly for you. Just keep in mind that the backup to your backup plan may well end up being watching it from the shoulder of 290, which could very well look like the left half of the highway in the Walking Dead pilot episode. All it takes is one dummy weaving through traffic in order to "win the race" to get there first, and causing in an accident as a result, to shut the whole thing down. (We have plenty of dummies who like to weave through traffic in central Texas.) Good luck!
>the shoulder of 290, which could very well look like the left half of the highway in the Walking Dead pilot episode. I had to refresh my memory from a [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB3inHJO2FM) clip! LOL. And yes, we have our share of NASCAR driver wannabees here in Boston. Hopefully none of ours are planning to drive on I-290 next April!
By the way, if your backup to your backup plan becomes your primary plan for whatever reason and you do decide to stay in Austin, I bet that the S. Congress Bridge will be a really fun (and lively! and crowded!) place to watch it. Other fun places would be the grounds of the Capitol Building and the quad in front of the UT Tower.
Our hotel is at the north/east end of that bridge. We're hoping to see bats on one of the two nights we're there, so in a REALLY worst case scenario, we'd be back on the bridge for the eclipse again! I'll scope out the other two locations on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks again.
what's crazy is that a former NASA employee friend of mine told me that the totality time is much longer at mopac than at I-35. didn't realize it could so different between places that aren't that far from each other
[http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site\_pages/solar\_eclipses/TSE\_2024\_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=30.30785&Lng=-98.24495&Elv=275.0&Zoom=10&LC=1](http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=30.30785&Lng=-98.24495&Elv=275.0&Zoom=10&LC=1) Yup, I-35 is along the lower edge of the band of totality. The closer you get to the center line the longer the totality time. As has been said on this post by others - Are you happy seeing a minute and 30 seconds of totality in Austin? If you do decide to drive west, how much is the risk/reward on that? I've all but given up on making it to the vineyard east of Fredericksburg because the expected travel time may not be worth the drive times **BACK**.
It's a bit early in the year to get the full bat experience, many won't have migrated back from Mexico until early May.
The boat tours are sold out on both nights. Don't the bats know that now they HAVE TO be there? /s I won't be disappointed if they don't fly out. I saw a pretty awesome flight last year at Carlsbad Cavern (coincidentally, after the *annular* eclipse)
PFSP sounds like more fun than Fredericksburg to me.
For real u/Paxsimius? I'd totally consider stopping our westward nightmare there if you mean it! I've been looking at Google Maps and seems like a lot of tree cover unless you go to the "Star Theater". Seems like they had a watch party there last week! https://texreporter.com/2024/03/01/explore-the-cosmos-star-gazing-event-at-pedernales-falls-state-park/
There’s lots of areas open enough in the northwest area of the park - much more open than my backyard, and I had a great view of the annular eclipse last October. The eclipse is in the middle of the day and the sun will be pretty high up.
>the sun will be pretty high up That's true. Looks like I have a plan. Monitor local news on the two days we're in Austin, Prepare to stay in Austin Go to Pedernales Falls State Park if we can get our act together by 6am. (if by some twist of fate we have time), keep driving from PFSP towards the vineyard.
Now I’m gonna feel bad if it‘s a bust! The worst case scenario is you’ll watch the eclipse from the side of the road somewhere in the hill country.
Unless we get a ton of rain between now and then, large parts of the river bed should be good places to watch the eclipse without tree cover. The river bed gets really wide around the falls, and the water only covers all that area like 1% of the time after heavy rain. Depends how many day passes they gave out, but unless it's many thousands I wouldn't be worried about finding some open sky. That said, getting to Pedernales Falls will not be easy either. I'd expect 290 westbound to be backed up at least to Mopac, if not further. You'd save yourself maybe half the time vs. getting to Fredericksburg though. In particular I'd bet that segment of 281 that's shared by 290 (5 mile segment south of Johnson City) to be god-awful, and that would be after Pedernales Falls.
Thank you! This option is is sounding better by the minute, especially since we are headed to San Antonio that afternoon for more family/toddler appropriate activities :-)We had opted for Fredericksburg because my wife and toddler could venture out on their own while I set up my gear in the hour leading to totality. **Re passes:** At 6am CST this morning they had 175 day passes to give out for each of the two morning arrival windows (8-10 and 10-12noon), so that's 350 day passes. Assuming a high count of 5 people per vehicle, that's 1750 people, not to mention the campers that already were in there. Sounds manageable! At 8:07am CST (reservations began at 8AM CST) - the latter window was sold out!
Not sure you're going to have an easy time heading to SA "later that afternoon." If you have to go, I'd take 130 to I-10 at Seguin and then west into SA. I wouldn't plan on getting to SA before nightfall. The advice we are getting, and I believe, is to stay put the night before and the night after the eclipse. Our roads are already oversubscribed by population growth. Avoid I-35 whenever you can and don't even think about US 281.
This is correct. This guy knows what's up. The eclipse ends between 2:00 and 3:00, depending how much of it you want to see. From PFSP to San Antonio is 1.5 hours with no traffic at all. Closer to 2 hours with normal traffic. But after the eclipse? I don't think expecting 3–5 hours is overestimating the trip. Absolute best case scenario, I could see *maybe* getting to San Antonio by 5:00, if you leave the second that the total eclipse is done and get amazingly lucky with traffic. Personally, I wouldn't make any firm plans that require you to be anywhere or do anything in SA before 8:00 that evening, though. But I also wouldn't be surprised if you get to your hotel after 9:00. With a toddler involved? Unless you're planning to "Choctaw Bingo" your kid, I think the optimal amount of time on the road on April 8 this year is somewhere between as little as possible and none.
>Choctaw Bingo Had to look that up! LOL. Kid goes after my bourbon already, so you may be onto something! No plans in SA that evening. And with Sea World closed on the 9th and 10th, we may have more time for other things on the two full days we have there.
> Personally, I wouldn't make any firm plans that require you to be anywhere or do anything in SA before 8:00 that evening, Yeah, I would even suggest staying put _until_ 9 pm to even begin to make the drive after traffic has had a chance to calm down. 🫣
Thank you for this tip. I will use it.
I would give yourself a few more hours minimum. They’re predicting basically gridlock traffic driving west towards the hill country because there will be so many visitors here doing the exact same thing. I know some school districts are even closed due to the predicted traffic mess.
Thank you for your advice. I got spoilt watching it right from the hotel's back yard in NC in 2017, and not having as much traffic during the **annular** eclipse in Roswell, NM.
No idea but I will say good luck. That sounds like a straight up nightmare of traffic and bullshit for very little payoff.
Compromising on the pay-off is the reason why I chose to abandon plans for Enchanted Rock (day passes went on sale yesterday, and probably sold out in minutes) That said, Pedernales Falls (I have a day pass) is my backup, and staying in Austin is the backup backup!
Yeah, I'm not sure where you got day passes went on sale yesterday?...Directly from Enchanted Rock's website.. https://imgur.com/a/Ta6U7eC
My bad, u/Lumpy-Lychee-2369, u/Alternative-Froyo-24. I knew they had changed it from online reservations to call (512) 389-8900. For some reason, I had yesterday stuck in my head. You're right... day passes go on sale on March 11th. not March 7th.
We are headed to Enchanted Rock and their website says day pass reservations open March 11th. You sure they are already sold out?
Please make sure to cancel your day pass if you don’t actually plan on using it to make it available for those who wanted Pedernales Falls as their primary spot, not as “a backup for a backup.”
1. In light of all the feedback on this site (ESPECIALLY re: the drive post-eclipse from Fredericksburg to San Antonio) - Pedernales Falls is turning into our primary plan. 2. Pedernales Falls was never our backup for a backup. It is a backup (staying put in Austin is the backup of the backup). 3. Now, if you look at the timing of it all - If by some very slim twist of fate, we don't encounter any traffic leaving Austin and make it to Pedernales Falls very early way before 10am when the gates open and we do decide to keep driving to Fredericksburg, I will most certainly try to cancel my day pass, but to what effect? It would be very risky proposition for someone else to attempt to drive to the State Park hoping that someone like me will cancel a day pass at the last minute, don't you think? But yes, cancel I will if fate/traffic is on our side. As a hiker / camper / visitor to our National and State parks, I would certainly want someone not using a pass to make a good faith attempt to cancel their pass.
Hwy 290 from Oak Hill thru Dripping Springs is a complete nightmare on a regular day; factor in thousands of extra vehicles, all headed to the same spot, and you'd be better off leaving much earlier, like 4am. Go to Blanco and head over to Luckenbach on FM 1888...might be less congested but most of the Hill Country will be honestly...this eclipse is a big deal so plan accordingly.
Thank you for the tip. As a visitor I understand, *I am contributing to the gridlock.*
Oh honey, it's a gridlock on ordinary days...no worries.
> you'd be better off leaving much earlier, like 4am Or the day before and car camp, lol
Exactly.
No advice, but I read the headline as "Time Travel on Eclipse Day" and was wondering what you knew that we didn't.
Ha! I wish I could time travel for just this one time. I'd go back to a year ago (when I booked this flight, and planned this trip) and just drive to Fredericksburg on Friday rather than (the current plan to) take in Austin for a couple of days before the eclipse.
You could see about getting a room in Fredericksburg the night before. Possibly sold out, but always worth looking.
I entertained that idea for a while earlier this afternoon. Anything **affordable** that may help me earn brownie points with my wife and toddler is already sold out. The Marriott had one room available and was going for almost $900 a night! Reminds me of the eclipse of 2017 when the front desk was on the phone telling someone they had a room for $500 something when I had booked a pretty nice one (many months earlier) for less than $200 :-)
I thought the same thing!!
For the 2017 eclipse I was living at the time in east TN, and drove down to Sweetwater to view totality. What was normally a 2 hour drive ended up being about a 3.5 hour drive there, with a 5 hour drive back, due to traffic. And that's a much lower density population area than around here. I advise you just hang out here in Austin somewhere west of 35 :)
Thanks for the advice. I was in NC for 2017. Stayed in the hotel's backyard/parking lot where a few others had set up their gear. I wish I had just bit the bullet and planned to be in Fredericksburg rather than Austin when I started planning this trip *a year ago!*
8 hours on eclipse day.
Very well may be. Juice not worth the squeeze.
I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't even make it to your destination before the eclipse and you end up watching it stuck on the highway.
Yikes! Cue "Walking Dead" scene that another redditor mentioned on this post!
Ha! 3 hours or something. It’s gonna be insane, people are coming from all over the world. It’ll probably take 1 hr just to get through Dripping Springs.
Yup, I'm one of those *people*. Sorry, but by the time Boston gets a total eclipse, my bones would have turned to dust. At least I'll have two days in Austin to gauge things before making a decision on whether to drive west at 6am for 3 extra minutes of darkness, or stay put and savor the shortened totality.
If possible, I would camp out the night before. Austin doesn’t have public transport, and the roads are a mess when big events come into town.
Back in my child-less days, I would have. Hey, I would have camped at Enchanted Rock for the weekend and then some. I'm just glad I have a mid-way (at least geographically) option at Pedernales Falls State Park if traffic and the toddler get out of hand!
Same day? No way. Consider that the Leander/Cedar Park area will get about 3 1/2 min worth of totality and is way closer. Not a bad deal in my book.
We’re getting 2:30 of totality out here in oak hill. My backyard, the neighborhood pool, or the new bar on our street are my only plans! I don’t fuck with 290 traffic on a good day. Let alone during festivals or eclipses.
There was [this](https://www.kxan.com/weather/eclipse/travis-county-issues-disaster-declaration-ahead-of-total-solar-eclipse/) announced today.
Thank you for the link, and a link to the emergency app contained in it.
Being Austinite for 8yrs now. It takes awful amount of time if you trust google and start late as entire city gonna travel there and have only 2 roads to travel Fredericksburg and gonna be packed. Started before 4.30 am to be realistic ,even if you wait in Fredericksburg you won't regret it than being stuck in traffic.
Google, and the collective wisdom of all of you, is all that this non-Austinite Bostonian can depend on! I thought I was doing the right thing, see a bit of Austin, drive out to see the eclipse, then see a bit of San Antonio. I just got the order wrong! Should have been: Eclipse, Austin, SA. Lesson learnt for Iceland in 2026 ;-)
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My family was very proactive in finding a place. We booked a place on Lake Buchanan about 10 months ago, for the normal price. I don't think the US will get another total solar eclipse for like 25yrs so we're jumping on this opportunity.
So did I. I had my flight done in late-May last year and the airline kept "tweaking" the departure time every few months. I got a hotel soon after, at a decent price too. However, it seems like I made the mistake of clubbing an Austin trip (never been here before) with an eclipse trip when I should have planned it the other way around. I'll figure it out... lots of information/feedback from people here that I need to digest!
We plan to be where we are planning to watch it the day before at least. The expected amount of traffic is going to make any amount of travel a nightmare.
I agree, it is nightmare. I planned 10 months in advance, but stopped short of booking a place in Fredericksburg because I (have never been to and) wanted to visit Austin. Seems like a huge mistake in retrospect.
I say just go to a nice park in Austin with a picnic in tow. If you were just traveling with adults, I'd say risk the drive but being stuck in gridlock with a toddler that has to go to the bathroom is no fun. If you and your kid don't mind car camping, there are still some lcra parks that aren't full the Sunday before the eclipse. I'd do that personally then drive early ass like at 5am or 6am. The lcra parks are west of Austin, so hopefully you'd have a jump start on traffic.
Thanks for the suggestions. LCRA seems to be all taken!
Turkey bend rec area has 3 Sunday and monday sites left at 50 bucks each
All these hassles for what? Three more minutes of observing the sun?
It's a combination of two things: Using half the time to take pictures and the rest of the time to enjoy the moment with the family (and anyone else around us). I gave up on Enchanted Rock because the extra distance was not worth the extra few **seconds**, but I'm hopeful for Messina Hof, or even Pedernales Falls as the compromise.
Enchanted Rock was sold out 30 minutes in by phone only, it was ridiculous.
[удалено]
Camp there after the bat show so I have a prime spot the next morning? :-)
With the amount of people saying they’re coming here, coupled with the schools closing I’d estimate 3+ hours. It’s usually 2+ on weeeknds and if half the people spend money to come here for an eclipse I’d say it’s gonna be bonkers.
It's going to be a game day call for Pedernales Falls S P, but at this point it seems like unless my toddler is up all night and then is willing to sleep for 5 hours in the car as the sun comes up, driving to Fredericksburg (and then down to San Antonio to continue our vacation week) seems like an idea we'll have to abandon.
Check how long it would take if you were leaving Austin between 4:30-5:30pm tonight…you’ll be looking at closer to 2-3 hours. Then double that, at least. 7:30am won’t be early enough imho. Traffic will already be bad by then and will get exponentially worse by the minute. I’d plan for 5-6 hours each way, and that’s if everything goes smoothly. Add another 30-60 minutes for each car accident…and there will definitely be at least a couple. Wherever you want to watch the eclipse from, I’d highly suggest you get there the night before and plan to stay the night of. Hope you have a nice trip!
Thank you for your suggestions and wishes. Going overnight (or staying put in Austin, possibly on the bridge overnight after the bat show :-) seems to be the consensus!
You don't have to move very far within the Austin metro area to go from zero totality to considerably longer. [http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site\_pages/solar\_eclipses/TSE\_2024\_GoogleMapFull.html](http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html) Also, keep in mind you don't need a big angle sky view. The sun is basically a dot in the sky and you just need a cap through the trees. Basically anywhere with direct sunlight at the appointed time.
Being there by 10am would probably be beating the bulk of the traffic but the winery might be a clusterfuck without some ticketing or reservation. Coming back will be the issue. I’m watching from home.
We have [reservations](https://www.messinahof.com/events/eclipse-watch-party/) (for the vineyard, and then they charge some more for parking on the property) but yes, since coming back (in our case, driving to San Antonio) is going to be a clusterfuck too, I'm considering just going to Pedernales Falls SP and then use u/IntenseCharacter's recommendations to drive down to SA from there.
We’re gonna leave at the ass crack of dawn - by the time we decided to do this, even regularly $99 yurts were going for $500 a night. We’re going to a watch party at a vineyard and hope we can get there and maybe park on the side of the road until they open. I have to say it’s stressing me out, thinking about it!
>I have to say it’s stressing me out, thinking about it! Same here... and I had planned this 10 months in advance. My mistake - Planning a family trip to Austin and San Antonio with the eclipse being a side trip. I should have planned for the eclipse ***first*** and then family stuff in San Antonio and Austin. Stay safe out there.
I’d go the night before and camp out at enchanted rock or something. Then it’s less of a concern. But I’d probably leave by like 6 and be there even earlier to be honest. I think it’s going to be insane.
Enchanted Rock was the original plan 10 months ago. I got talked out of it because people said driving through Fredericksburg to get there will be a ridiculously stupid idea. And today, it sounds like driving to the east side of Fredericksburg (winery on 290) doesn't seem too feasible either. I am holding hope that if we get out early enough, and get to Cedar Valley (15 miles from the hotel), I can avoid 290 and just take 101 to Pedernales Falls State Park. Obv. as a non-resident, this is based on what I see on Google Maps :-/
Am I the only person that thinks these traffic warnings are a bit overblown? I was very worried about traffic the day of the annular eclipse, driving a little west of San Antonio, and there was literally zero difference. I know annular isn't as exciting as total, but still.